Yankees Team with Ed Randall To Offer Free Prostate Cancer Screening

(Ed Randall promoting his Fans for the Cure at the MLB All-Star Fan Fest in 2013 – Photo by Jason Schott)

For the seventh consecutive year, the Yankees will join with New York-Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center, Weill Cornell Medicine and Ed Randall’s Fans for the Cure (fans4thecure.org), to save the lives of their fans and employees from prostate cancer during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month by offering a free screening.

Prior to and during the 7:05 p.m. game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, September 26, ticketed fans, game day employees and media members 40 years of age and older are encouraged to visit the area near Main Level Section 220 where medical personnel under the direction of Dr. James McKiernan, Urologist-in-Chief, New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, will be standing by to administer quick and simple PSA blood tests to all who request one. Those fans will have the option of continuing on to the first aid room across the hall to take a digital rectal exam, a highly accurate marker for the disease.

“Once again, we are excited to partner with Fans for the Cure to offer free cancer checkups and information about prostate cancer risk,” said Dr. McKiernan. “This is a great chance to get out and support the Bronx Bombers and find out more about the most common cancer to affect men in America, how you can know your stats and be informed about early detection and treatment options.”

Prostate cancer is the most prevalent non-skin cancer with more than 160,000 men expected to be diagnosed this year, more than enough to fill every seat in three Yankee Stadiums. While a serious disease, prostate cancer is treatable. Over 2.9 million men who have been diagnosed are living today.

Men with certain racial and family profiles (African-Americans, or sons, brothers, or fathers of a man who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer) should establish base line PSA tests while in their 40s. When detected early — when it is most treatable with the greatest variety of options — non-aggressive prostate cancer has a cure rate that exceeds 99%.

Fans for the Cure Chairman of the Board, Steve Garvey — a 10-time All-Star, the National League record holder for consecutive games played (1,207), a prostate cancer survivor and the son of a prostate cancer survivor — said, “The lifeblood of this game we love is numbers. Come and get yours for free. Do it for yourself and for those who love you.”

“Unlike Steve, I was 47 years old with no history of cancer in the family and no symptoms when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer,” said Fans for the Cure Founder and CEO Ed Randall. “Being granted a second at-bat at life, I learned that prostate cancer in its earliest stages has no symptoms. Thanks to a simple blood test, early detection saved my life and we are again here to keep men in the ballgame so that they can enjoy Yankees baseball for many years to come. What a privilege it is for us to work together with these two world-class institutions.”

Ed Randall’s Fans for the Cure (www.fans4thecure.org) is a 501c3 charity dedicated to helping men recognize the risks of prostate cancer and the immense value of early detection in both extending and saving their lives. The charity coordinates PSA screenings, sponsors medical seminars, offers physician and hospital referrals and provides educational materials (online and hard copy).